Oceanwide’s Polar Class 6 vessel Hondius set sail from her homeport Vlissingen in the Netherlands on Sunday, delivering passengers to her first Arctic voyage of the season. Two other motor vessels in the company’s fleet, Plancius and Ortelius, are set to leave May 28 and June 2, respectively, following Hondius in her route to the high Arctic.
Hondius’s first voyage of the season is a special one, an Arctic Ocean Expedition whose route includes such fascinating spots as Aberdeen, Fair Isle, Jan Mayen, the East Greenland ice edge, and Svalbard’s principal island of Spitsbergen during its 11-night itinerary.
Emphasizing birding and whale watching in accordance with all AECO guidelines, this immersive polar cruise visits some of the best areas in the world for viewing exotic Arctic species: walruses, puffins, humpback whales, bearded seals, Arctic foxes, polar bears, and more are all possible in these remote and ruggedly beautiful areas.
Hondius’s Arctic Ocean Expedition in particular has many highlights, such as possible white-beaked dolphin sightings near Doggersbank, over 100,000 pairs of seabirds around the “Granite City” of Aberdeen, the 2,300-meter-high (7,545 feet) volcano of Mt. Beerenberg on Jan Mayen, and sailing under the midnight sun along Greenland’s famous ice edge.
Oceanwide’s sailing vessel, Rembrandt van Rijn, is already in the Arctic, making trips in North Spitsbergen that focus on hiking, sailing, birdwatching, and enjoying the summer solstice.
